1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a system and a method of processing image data, a device, a terminal and a program adapted to the system, a data structure of image data, and a method of generating image data. More particularly, the invention relates to an image processing system suitable to carry out image processing in excellent accuracy while removing influence of characteristics depending on the type difference and the like and facilitating wide and flexible adaptation over image capturing devices, an image capturing device, an image processing terminal, an image processing data storage terminal, a program for the device, a program for the terminal, a data structure of image data, and a method of processing image and a method of generating image data.
2. Description of Related Art
In related art digital still cameras (hereafter “digital camera”), various image processes, such as color converting, color correcting and the like, are carried out in a procedure of generating image data. However, the digital camera must carry out the image process within a restrained range of resources (performance of CPU or memory), so that there are some limitations to carry out the image processing in excellent accuracy.
In order to address or solve these limitations, the related art includes a digital camera employing the RAW format in which the digital camera does not substantially carry out the image process and output data from sensors, such as CCD (Charge Coupled Device) is output as it is. In this case, if an application dedicated to process the RAW data is installed in a personal computer (personal computer), the personal computer is able to carry out the image process in excellent accuracy. However, since the dedicated application must be installed in every type of digital cameras, it can not have generality. For example, general image processing applications, such as Photoshop of Adobe that are accustomed to users cannot be used.
In this manner, if the digital camera with the RAW format and a personal computer are combined in use, the results of image processing can be obtained in excellent accuracy while removing influence of characteristics depending on the type difference and the like. Since general users' personal computers are connected to one camera in most cases or only several cameras even if they exist, it is not complicate to install the dedicated application in every type of the cameras. However, there are problems in the case of printers other than the personal computers. That is, the related art includes direct printing type printers that connect the digital cameras or the memories thereof to read image data and to carry out image process to print out. If such direct printing type printers are intended to be generally corresponding to the digital camera of RAW format, the dedicated applications must be installed in all the types of printers to be associated, and it is difficult to achieve this.
Related art techniques of processing the image data captured by digital cameras, etc., include, for example, the image processing device disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-33994 (hereafter “first related art example”), the image reproducing device disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-191246 (hereafter “second related art example”), and the image capturing device disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-223979 (hereafter “third related art example”).
The first related art example includes a profile setting unit which sets a profile corresponding to a type of digital cameras over image data acquired by the digital camera, and an image processing unit which carries out the image process depending on the type of the digital camera using the profile set by the profile setting unit, and also includes a new profile acquisition unit which acquires a profile corresponding to a new type of a digital camera from a central server device connected through a network to supply the profile to the profile setting unit. By doing so, it is possible to remove influence due to different characteristics depending on the types of the digital cameras from the image data acquired by the digital camera and also to rapidly correspond to a new type of digital camera, so that the image process can be carried out in excellent efficiency.
In the second related art example, the capturing is carried out by a digital camera which has a function (a capturing information adding unit) to add capturing information representing a capturing condition to digital image data acquired in the capturing. An image reproducing device carries out the image process over the image data acquired in the capturing by using the capturing information added to the image data at a setup processing unit to enhance the image quality, and then reproduces the image data as a print or a display image of a monitor. By doing so, when a photographic image captured by the digital camera is reproduced, it is possible to immediately reproduce the photographic image in a high quality of image without repeating fine adjustments using a test print or a monitor checking in order to enhance the image quality.
The third related art example is an image capturing device to capture the image of a subject and recording the image data which includes an image pick-up unit to pick up the image of the subject, and a recording unit to record an image pick-up output signal output by the image pick-up unit as the image data and recording image pick-up signal format identifying information which identifies the signal format of the image pick-up output signal as separated out from the image data, and a signal processing unit to convert the image pick-up output signal recorded by the recording unit into a reproducing signal for reproduction display, and a display unit with which display the image based on the reproducing signal converted by the signal processing unit. By doing so, it is possible to record and reproduce the RAW data.